Officers were called to the scene in Lake Balboa shortly after 1:00 PM over reports of the man acting strangely, though no specifics were given other than the fact that he was in the roadway.
LAPD Lieutenant John Jenal says a police helicopter flew overhead as officers arrived on the scene and used Tasers on the man “in an effort to de-escalate the situation,” before shooting at him with beanbag rounds.
The man, who is described as Latino and in his mid-30s, apparently did not comply, so they shot him to death. The department is now looking into whether he was on drugs, under the influence of alcohol, or had mental health issues.
Activists, critics, and residents of Los Angeles have asserted that his mental health is likely something that should have been considered before using lethal force on him.
Riot police clashed with protestors in Albuquerque, N.M. who were angry over police violence. In response to the March 16 shooting and killing of a homeless man, the protests started peacefully but later became violent as night came. Heavily armed riot police using tear gas and batons forcefully ended the protests. Lindsay France speaks with RT’s Ramon Galindo about the problematic record of the Albuquerque Police Department leading up to the protests.
Riot police launch tear gas toward activists in downtown Albuquerque. Photograph: Russell Contreras/AP
A protest over deadly police shootings turned from peaceful into “mayhem”, Albuquerque’s mayor said late on Sunday, as officers in riot gear clashed with demonstrators.
People are angry over Albuquerque police’s involvement in 37 shootings, 23 of them fatal, since 2010. Critics say that is far too many for a department serving a city of about 555,000.
The US Justice Department has been investigating the department for more than a year, looking into complaints of civil rights violations and allegations of excessive use of force.
Alexander Siderits, 23, said he was participating in the protest because he was “fed up” with how police treat citizens. “It has reached a boiling point, and people just can’t take it anymore,” he said.
An Associated Press reporter saw gas canisters being thrown and Albuquerque police and Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies charging at the crowds, which had mostly dispersed by late Sunday.
Mayor Richard Berry said one police officer was injured, and at one point protesters trapped police in a vehicle and tried to break the windows, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Riot police stand guard in front of protesters in downtown Albuquerque Sunday night. Photograph: Russell Contreras/AP
A day after hundreds of people clashed with Albuquerque riot officers over police shootings, New Mexico’s governor said Monday that she understands the public’s frustration but called on protesters to remain calm while US officials investigate.
Mayor Richard Berry said Monday that one officer twisted his knee but no protesters were hurt during the 12-hour demonstration on Sunday, despite the use of tear gas on the crowd. Four people were arrested in the melee, police chief Gorden Eden said Monday.
Berry said officials monitoring events from an emergency operations center decided to use the gas after some people walked onto a freeway, endangering themselves. Eden says people laid down on the highway.
On Sunday, protesters marching back and forth between downtown and the University of New Mexico blocked traffic, tried to topple street signs and called for the police chief and other city officials to resign, authorities said.
Governor Susana Martinez watched the protests on television.
“Albuquerque is going through a tough time, and they’ll figure it out through the investigation,” the governor said. “We want that to be thorough. We want confidence in the investigation, but I just don’t want to see anyone harmed.”
Riot police launch tear gas toward activists in downtown Albuquerque, N.M. following a 10-hour protest around the city, Sunday, March 30, 2014. Hundreds of protesters marched past riot police in Albuquerque on Sunday, days after a YouTube video emerged threatening retaliation for a recent deadly police shooting. The video, which bore the logo of the computer hacking collective Anonymous, warned of a cyberattack on city websites and called for the protest march. Photo: Russell Contreras, AP
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A day after a protest over Albuquerque police shootings devolved into violence, the city’s new police chief on Monday commended officers for showing restraint and said he is about to unveil reforms that include changes to the embattled department’s recruiting process.
Chief Gorden Eden spoke to reporters after more than 300 people took to the streets Sunday, calling for him and other city officials to resign. The protest turned violent that evening, when people began hunting down officers, throwing rocks and bottles, and spitting on officers, he said.
The chief says officials decided to disperse the crowd with tear gas after a man pulled out an AK-47, others blocked traffic by lying down on Interstate 25 and unruly crowds trapped people and officers in cars. Protesters also started attacking each other, impeded emergency crews and blocked the entrance to a hospital.
There was only one minor injury, an officer who hurt his knee, Eden said. Four protesters were arrested during the 12-hour demonstration.
Justin Elder, 24, followed the protest as a passenger in a car and held a sign that read, “APD: Dressed To Kill.”
“That’s what this police force is about,” Elder said.
Sunday’s protest and another last week were in response to the 37 shootings Albuquerque police have been involved in since 2010, 23 of them fatal, including the recent case of a homeless camper killed after he appeared to be surrendering. By comparison, police in the similarly sized cities of Denver and Oakland have been involved in fatal and non-fatal shootings totaling 27 and 23, respectively.
A fatal police-involved shooting led to a near-riot in Anaheim.
Two police officers in Anaheim, Calif., have been placed on paid leave after being involved in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man on Saturday that has sparked near-riots in Orange County.
The officers were given three days off “so they can just have time to power down,” a sergeant in the Anaheim Police Department told the Daily News, adding the move is “not any kind of discipline action, it’s just a normal procedure after anyone was involved in a shooting.”
Angry protests in the neighborhood began following the shooting on Saturday, which occurred after police officers spotted three men talking in an alley they believed to be acting “suspicious.”
When the officers tried to approach them, the men took off on foot, one throwing “unidentified objects onto rooftops as he ran,” police told the Orange County Register.
The man, who was unarmed, was shot by police and died at 7 p.m. at a local hospital.
He has been identified by his family as 25-year-old Manuel Angel Diaz.
MINDY SCHAUER/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Activist Marlena Carrillo shouts at police inside the Anaheim Police Department Sunday.
Police described Diaz as a “documented gang member” according to the Register, and said the men’s behavior was deemed “suspicious.”
Officers stayed in the area on Saturday after the shooting and were confronted by a crowd of roughly 100 protesters, according to CBS News, who circled them and began throwing things, according to police.
The officers responded by firing rounds of rubber bullets, bean bags and pepper spray into the crowd.
Some of the chaos was caught on tape by KCAL-TV, including the moment a police dog escaped its handler and began chasing people, ultimately biting one man.
“We are extremely sorry for the people who were bit,” Police Chief John Welter said in a press conference on Sunday. “The city will be responsible for all medical bills associated with the dog. The canine officer responsible for the dog is devastated by this.”
The protests continued on Sunday night, during which a dumpster was repeatedly set on fire and pushed into the street. Five people were arrested.
Welter defended his officers’ actions in a press conference on Sunday, saying, “I don’t have a problem with people exercising their First Amendment rights … I do have a problem when people start throwing bottles and rocks at my officers.”
“Officers in this situation can’t retreat,” he reportedly said. “If we would have abandoned the scene, we would not be doing our job.”
The climate in the area was already tense between police and civilians, the Los Angeles Times reported, and families of victims killed in police-involved shootings have held weekly protests at the police department for the last two years. City officials said in June they were going to launch an independent review into these “major police incidents.”
On Sunday, Mayor Tom Tait vowed the city and the police department were working to find out exactly what had happened.
“As with many people, I viewed the events and was very, very concerned with what I saw,” he said, according to the Register. “I’m asking for a full investigation…Transparency is essential. Whatever the truth is, we will own it.”
But that’s not enough for the victim’s sister Lupe Diaz, who maintains her brother did nothing wrong and was “just hanging out with friends” when police shot him.
“There is no explanation,” she told the Register. “It’s not fair.”
On Sunday night another man was killed in an officer-involved shooting in Anaheim when police shot a suspect in a stolen car chase.
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